All That Glitters
by Time gypsy
Summary: OR, How to Cope with the Fact That You are Notably Substandard Follow Lucy, Lorcan, Lysander, Louis, and the rest of the next generation as they struggle for normalcy in a world turning upside down. Please review, it makes me smile.


**A/N: My first story about Lucy Weasley, my favorite of the next gen characters. Sorry about the bad formatting, I wrote this completely on my phone. Thanks and enjoy.**

Chapter one…

Lucy Weasley sat perfectly still with her legs crossed and her hand outstretched, in it, a small crust of bread. Nearly a month prior she had learned how to get birds to eat out of her hand. Squirrels were her new challenge. They had just begun to get used to her ever-constant presence in their home, and were no longer afraid of her, yet they still remained a good distance from her. She had spent many days just sitting on the grass, exchanging looks with the squirrels, occasionally talking to them about the books she was reading, or Louis's antics, or how unbearable her sister was sometimes. They never gave any sign of understanding. They just kept staring at her with those dark little eyes of theirs, but deep down she knew they understood, if only a little.  
At the age of eleven Lucy could not be called a pretty girl. Plain was the proper term, but nothing like the lavish adjectives that relatives had bestowed on her twin Molly. With her curly red hair, dainty features, and bright blue eyes she was stunning, beautiful, or even striking, but Lucy was just plain. Plain and odd. She was on the shorter end of average height for her age. She had a pale face with rosy cheeks. Her features weren't exactly dainty and she was dappled with freckles across the bridge of her nose. She had dull brown eyes and mousy brown hair with just enough curl to be a frizzy hassle. Her personality was no shining point either. When she talked she talked too much and too loudly. She absorbed herself in books and would go through times where she wouldn't leave her room for days to binge read some old text from her mother's collection. Despite her bookish habits, she rather disliked school and studying and preferred to do nearly anything else, and because of this she became somewhat of a jack-of-all-trades. She knit, sewed, wrote, danced, sang, drew, played basic piano, and spoke fluent German (which she learned from her mother). Anything that kept her busy, she happily learned how to do. Nothing kept her satisfied for long though so she jumped from activity to activity.  
She watched intently as a small squirrel bounced out of one of the petunia bushes, stopping suddenly once it caught sight of the bread in Lucy's hand. It cocked its head at her and she reciprocated, not breaking their stare. It took a curious step towards her, watching her cautiously.  
"It's alright," she cooed gently, "I'm just here to meet you." As if in response the squirrel crept closer, still looking skeptical.  
Lucy tore the crust in half, placing one directly in front of the squirrel on the grass. She held the other in her hand, watching the squirrel carefully take the peace offering.  
Slowly, she moved her hand back in front of the squirrel, revealing the piece of bread once more. The squirrel ventured towards her, more trusting this time, and reached for the bread.  
"Lucy!" The shrill shout pierced the calm morning air, startling the squirrel off. She sighed irritably, and turned back towards her family's cottage to see Molly standing on the porch, with her hands on her hips. "Come inside. We're leaving for Diagon Alley soon and you're not even dressed yet."  
It was true. She had left for the garden so early that morning that she hadn't bothered to change out of her night gown, and had just pulled on a pair of boots before heading to the garden.  
"Coming!" She called back, placing the bread on the grass before jogging back towards the house where Molly fixed her with a stern look.  
"What were you doing out there?" She asked, eyeing her twin suspiciously. Lucy shrugged as she pressed past her.  
"Nothing."  
"What do you mean 'nothing'?"  
"I mean nothing. I was just thinking, if you must know." Molly pursed her lips, obviously unsatisfied with Lucy's answer, but said nothing and walked back into the house, her curls bouncing perfectly behind her. Lucy hurried after her, pushing a tangled strand of hair out of her face and climbing the stairs to her room.  
It was smaller than Molly's, but not by much, with a small window seat looking out from the space beside her bed.  
She quickly kicked off her boots and moved to her closet, quickly pulling out her Weasley jumper, which was a few sizes to large, a skirt, and a pair of tights. She changed quickly, and brushed her hair with a similar speed. After making it look somewhat decent she tugged on her boots and clomped back down the stairs. When she reached the first floor den she saw Molly, in her finest clothes sitting by the fireplace with a small wooden chest of floo powder next to her. Lucy looked around noticing her father's absence.  
"Has Dad left already?" Molly nodded as she looked her sister up and down.  
"What're you wearing?" She asked, rather disgusted as her eyes landed on the boots that she hated so much.  
"Clothes." She answered shortly. "Same as you."  
"Well are you ready to go? Do you have the money Dad gave us for school supplies?"  
"Yes." Lucy nodded, grabbing her coat from the chair it was tossed over. Molly crossed her arms over her chest.  
"Say it in German." She said sternly.  
"Wha- Molly I really don't want-"  
"In German." She instructed again, cutting off Lucy's protest. After their mother's death a few months prior Molly had made herself the reigning maternal figure of the house, making sure that Lucy was always in check, which included making sure she was keeping up her German. Audrey Weasley had been an ambassador from the German Ministry of Magic when she met Percy and the two grew very close and later got married. The entire family had loved Audrey and her death had been devastating, to Percy especially, who had thrown himself into his work as a distraction. Molly had had a particularly hard time adjusting to a world without her mother and had vowed that she would continue her mother's work of making sure Lucy was a cultured and well educated person. Though Lucy was flattered that her sister wanted to take care of her, sometimes the constant reminder of the mother she lost was too much to bare.  
"Ja, ich habe das Geld." Lucy sighed irritably through gritted teeth. Molly smiled at her, and gave her a handful of floo powder.  
"Danke." She said, as she grabbed a handful for herself. "Now come quickly. We can't leave Grandmum waiting all day, we're already going to be late." She said turning towards the fire place and tossing the powder in, turning the fire a violent green. "The Burrow!" She called loudly a leapt in, promptly disappearing.  
Lucy sighed and looked around the den as she dug her fingers into the pile of powder she was holding. She briefly imagined her mother. If she had had Molly's red curls, and blue eyes they could have been twins. She felt her eyes sting and blinked away the thought. She quickly turned back to the fire.  
"The Burrow." She said chucking in the powder, and leaping in after it.


End file.
